Windswept
by AGBALUX
Summary: In Sora's heart, she met him. A boy who was like the wind itself: free and calming and friendly. But the wind was trapped and was desperate for company. She hoped that she would suffice. VenNami.
1. Prelude

She worked in flurried motions, her powers fluttering like the wings of a dove. The softest touch, the smallest pressure, the slightest alteration. One flick of her ability and the damage is unfixable. She could very well break him at this point. Crush his memories between her fingers—ruin the perfect quilt that he had been knitting together ever since his memory was existent—and make him exist no more. A vegetable. She could turn him into a ragdoll without a soul.

She shook those devious thoughts out of her head. No, she had attempted to destroy enough. She had done enough damage. The least she could do is try to fix it.

It was the very least somebody like _her_ could do.

She worked feverishly, day and night, at every hour. She pushed DiZ and the boy away, focusing on her job. Her only job. The only righteous purpose she had been given in her entire life. How could she ever want to stop? This was all she had. Sora was all she had. And when he was gone, he would be all she would have ever had.

She stopped.

He was in that pod, deep in slumber. The silence was awful to her, but that was how Castle Oblivion worked. The walls sucked in the light and the noise and left nothing. What they left behind was worthless. Excess. Something that the wind might carry out instead.

She held her hands together. She was shaking.

She had to keep working, she had to finish helping the only goddamn friend she had ever had…! She could not let him down. Not again. She would do her job, and she would do it so perfectly that no blemish would remain. Her work as a master seamstress was to create a perfect replica of what she had so easily destroyed. Not to improve or enhance, but to duplicate. No blurs or wrong stitches or bleak yarns out of place.

Carefully, she pulled out all the flaxen yarns. And the white ones, the blue ones. The blue of her eyes, the pale peach of her skin. She extracted them with flawless grace, until not one remained. She was gone from the quilt, she was gone.

Perfect. Now all she had to do was fill the empty holes with vibrant reds, delicate lilacs, intense blues that seemed almost violet.

Her hand slipped.

She felt herself falling, but someone caught her. She fell into strong, capable arms. They held her as if she were made of eggshells, and one wrong move would make her fall apart.

She did not think about her savior for much longer, not when she realized that she had _stopped_. She had stopped fixing her mistakes. She had stopped repairing the damage that she had caused. She had _stopped_.

"Let me go! Let me go!" She screamed and writhed. "I need to help him! Sora, I need to help Sora!"

"Does he get all the girls like this?" The person said, mostly to himself. She did not care, not when she was not doing her job. Let her finish it! Let her be done with ripping herself out of the mind of the only friend she could possibly have!

She continued her struggle, her strength leaving her by the second. Her hand slammed into her captor's chest, but her body was traitorous. In his arms, it warmed and lulled. She was too tired to scream, too numb to cry.

She was letting him down.

But the breath of satisfaction that escaped her lips was, if anything, her true sentiment. She was so, so tired. Tired of this torture. She did not want Sora to forget her. She wanted to live on in his heart.

"Sleep, Naminé. Stop putting yourself through this misery."

And as if by magic, she slept. In those arms, with shameful satisfaction and a guilty conscience. She slept so soundly and she said a name. The only name. The hero's name. "Sora."

Before sleep took her entirely, the person chuckled. "No, I'm not him. I'm sorry about that." They didn't sound bitter, but tired, like she was.

"You're just as kind…" She said as she felt their chest get sucked in with a breath. A shock. And then she was gone.

* * *

Her head shot up immediately. She knew where she was.

She recognized the soft cushion of the pillow under her head, the carefully wrapped blanket around her body. But she had no time. She was procrastinating, _again_. Over and over and _over_ , she found herself in this room again. A room that would only see her in times of weakness, when her body would not have any more to give.

"You're not getting up, so you might as well flip that pillow over and go back to bed."

She turned to face him. _Him_ , because now she knew who it was. It was never anybody else. Nobody else pretended to care as much. Nobody reminder her so much of everything that was riding on her. No one could replicate that look of tender care, even when she could not see his eyes.

"Please, you know how important this is—"

"You're important too." He replied simply, as if he were not throwing his feelings, feelings she envied, because she did not have them, around. "You need to rest. This is the fifth time this month."

"I'll be fine when Sora's back, and so will you." She looked at him. Strong, capable. Gorgeous. And yet so guilty, so reproachable. Is that what a heart does? Does it give you so many flaws that you cannot see anything else every time you look at yourself? And if that were true, then why did she feel the same way?

"You can't fix Sora if you're bedridden. If this keeps up, we might have to take you a hospital. Magic can only do so much." There it is again. The tenderness that unhinged her, that made her compliant to everything he said. _Yes, I'll stay in bed. Please, watch over me. I'm tired, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to stay with you, the only other person who's shown me kindness._

"I know, but what am I supposed to do? I need to fix him."

"And you will," he reached for her hand. The leather gloves are lukewarm, but bring enough satisfaction. "God know you're more of a hard worker than he ever was."

This made her smile. Yes, she could recall how Sora was always the lazy one, the easygoing one, while…

"Riku," she said. In reply, he raised his blindfold, giving her a good look at one of his eyes. Endless ocean green, the kind that she would love to get lost in, if only one. "Thank you."

He flushed. He was never good at taking compliments, even when he knew that she could not feel a thing. Even though she was _supposed_ to not feel a thing…

"It's fine. Just rest. Go back to sleep. I'll be here."

She did not say anything else. As much as she wanted to go back to work, he would not let her. He would gladly raise his blade at her if it meant keeping her in bed. She just laid down, her back to him, and allowed the slumber to take her again.

The girl would have slept in peace if not for the breeze. She shivered harshly, and while her body was trying to rest, her mind was wide awake.

There was no wind inside of Castle Oblivion.

* * *

She had long since returned to work on Sora, having lost the thread of her work. Now she had to venture through millions of memories to find the correct one, the one she had already begun to weave back. Yet, in this sea of threads, it was tedious. She lost herself in the seas of silk and yarn and cotton, memories of happiness and content. She could wander in his head forever and never tire. She would replay the scene of the Destiny Islands again and again, hoping to feel the sun on her skin and the sand under her feet.

It was nice to dream. Even Nobodies were given that pleasure.

She pushed the memories away. They were distractions, dangerous afflictions to her working mind. No, this witch had other things to do. She had work.

They were going to be moving Sora soon. To Twilight Town, to keep him save. She needed to do what she could. She couldn't afford to lose any more time. The worlds _needed_ Sora, and she had messed everything up, and she needed to fix it. _Fix it, fix it, fix it._

She stopped at a memory she had not seen before. It was worn and old, and by the looks of it, Sora probably didn't even remember it anymore. Like her, it was waiting to be forgotten, and just like Naminé, it would be gone soon.

The girl had no business touching that memory. It was of no importance, and it had nothing to do with what she had altered. It was best being left alone, away from her troublesome hands. Yet the winds grew louder, more insistent. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. Sora cherished every single memory of his childhood. They all glowed with the warmth of a happy recollection. But this one was so lonely, just like her.

She twirled her finger around the memory. Slowly, she pulled on it. And then she was someplace else.

Naminé was on the beach. She had been here many times before, but as Kairi. Not that she recalled any of it. Gazing through Sora's memory, she had a sharp recollection of the Destiny Islands' shores. It was like she had been there herself, not as her Somebody, but as Naminé. The statement itself was sort of redundant, but she enjoyed the idea of being a separate person, if only a while.

As she had suspected, the Sora in this memory was a child, he couldn't be any more than five. Even back then, he was extremely adorable. Chubby cheeks, huge eyes, a brilliant smile. Her heart leaped. This boy couldn't have known what would happen to him in a couple of years. What absolute hell he would go through.

His hand was outstretched, a ghost of a light dancing on his fingertips. He didn't know what was happening, and Naminé was just as lost as he was. "You can stay with me. Until you feel better," he said.

 _Thank you._

Naminé blinked. There was a voice, emanating from the ball of light. A boy's voice. She couldn't believe it. Was the thing alive?

She could only watch as the ball of light entered Sora's body, right where his heart would be. Her hand ghosted towards her chest, where her own heart would be. Was that what a heart looked like? And if so, then what the hell was it doing talking to Sora? _Who_ was it?

She shivered. The winds had gathered up together, curling up at her feet. But it was never windy on these islands. She didn't understand.

 _Yeah, I guess it's hard to explain. I was a wreck, and unfortunately, not at my finest._

She twirled, expecting to see someone behind her, speaking sheepishly in her ear. The voice was almost tangible, and she could visualize the boy who would say something like that. Spiky, windswept hair, eyes like the ocean depths. A strange attire, and a bright smile.

 _Yep, that's me. Hello there._

"How are you in my head?" She had to ask when the illusion that had been formed in her head began to speak. This was all kinds of weird. Perhaps her work had reached a null point and she had finally gone over the edge. She had finally gone insane.

I'm not in your head. I'm in Sora's. Well, no. I'm in his heart.

"How is that possible?"

 _I'm not sure myself. But I've been here for a while._

An understatement. If he had been in Sora's heart ever since this memory happened, he had been here for more than ten years, easy. She blinked. "So you have."

 _This might seem strange, but would you dive into Sora's heart? It'll do me some good to see another face._

"What? Can I do that?"

Sure you can. Your connection with Sora allows you to. Come see me, please.

She did not have a single reason to say yes. She did not know this boy, and what he was asking of her… It seemed bizarre, crazy even. But she found herself nodding as the breeze soothed her nerves.

"Alright, what do I have to do?"

Follow my instructions.

* * *

She arrived on the platform without a sound. She had seen these before, a few minutes ago. Platforms of glass, illustrating Sora's likeness. Most of them had Kairi, some of them had Riku. Her eyes lingered over them, and a small smile escaped her: She had never thought that Riku could muster such a smug smile.

 _Keep falling, until you see a green one. I'm here_ , he had said. And when she looked around, sure enough, he was there. The boy who had conjured himself in her mind was now real, flesh and bone, in front of her. Immediately, he reached for her hand. Against her better judgement, she did not snatch away. He was so warm.

"I can't believe it," he said. "You're real."

"Debatable, but yes, I am real. And you are not?" She replied. She could feel him, as solid as Riku or DiZ or Marluxia could have ever been. This boy was in Sora's heart, and he had been there for the longest time.

"I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm real. But I'm just a heart. I've no body to go to." His eyes were intense, alluring. In a moment of doubt, she thought herself as less of a witch next to him. He was the real bewitcher.

"What happened to yours?"

"I lost it. My friend hid it away."

"That seems like an awful prank," she retorted. She was trying to believe what he was saying, but it was insane. How do you lose a body? What are you, if only a heart remains? Is this boy still more complete than her, even without a physical form?

"She did it to save me. I would have been a goner."

"I see. And, where is she? Why are you here?"

His expression darkened. "I don't know. And I can't leave until my body is near. I can't leave this place. I'm trapped." Even with his sadness, his smile seemed genuine. "Which is why I'm grateful for your company."

"I just wanted to understand," she said, and grasped his other hand. "You are here, and you are real. And, most of all, thanks to Sora, you'll be safe."

"Yeah, I figured. He has kept me safe for a long time." He grinned. Her chest fluttered. "So, what brings a lovely lady like yourself to this place? Are you Sora's girlfriend or something?"

" _N-No_." She bit her lip. Half-truth. She was something to Sora as Kairi. "I am not. I just… I did something to him, and now I'm fixing him."

The boy snorted. "You make him sound like he's a machine."

"In a way, he is. The boy has a one-track mind," she laughed. She found herself enjoying his company. He was… Friendly. And he didn't know what she was yet: a witch, a _Nobody_. She could pretend to be normal with him.

The boy smiled. Oh, Light. She was a goner. "Those are the best of people. Like me."

"Humbleness is a virtue."

"So is honesty."

At this, she couldn't help it. She laughed, loudly. Louder than she had ever had in her short existence. She laughed and laughed until it hurt. She didn't recognize it. For the Naminé that had slaved away in Castle Oblivion, laughing like this was foreign. Yet, right now, her chest was tight from the lack of air.

She raised her head to see the boy smiling at her. "It's good to have someone listen to my jokes. Terra and Aqua wouldn't have said it, but they must have been tired of them."

Immediately, she committed those names to memory. Names of the people who were important to this precious boy. People who held his thoughts and his heart.

"What is your name?" She asked.

With a grin, he replied.

"It's Ventus. And yours?"

"I'm… Naminé."

* * *

 **A/N: I was originally planning for this to be a one-shot, but the plot is too thick, so I'm leaning towards three chapters.**

 **Also, sorry for the excess of ships. Naminé's feelings are all over the place. I'm trying to get a clear grasp on how she sees the world, and I cannot see her not developing feelings for anyone who has shown her kindness.**


	2. Interlude

She visited him frequently now.

Even if she felt like crap the moment she returned, she indulged in her harmless visits. Her body is still in Castle Oblivion, but her mind is in Sora's Heart, next to him. To anyone else, it looked like she was working on Sora's memories, but she was doing the opposite.

She'd have to stop eventually. Say goodbye, because Sora had to come back. Every moment without him was a danger, every instant screamed for the hero to return. Riku wanted him back, too, but he'd never rush her. He cared too much, and she was grateful and ashamed at the same time. She was using his affection to her advantage. And the worst part was that she didn't feel as bad as she wanted to.

But not everybody who accompanied her was as kind.

"Naminé."

At the sound of that voice, she forced herself out of Sora's Heart, leaving Ventus stuck in the middle of a sentence. She blinked, and saw him staring down at her. Disdain dripped from his voice, from his golden eye. She forced her voice to become distant. "Yes?"

"You're taking forever. How much longer?" DiZ was barely civil towards her as it was, and impatience only made him angrier. She would hate him, if she could. But with no feelings, the rage that she felt was almost on par with her guilt.

"I'm working as fast as I can," she said and regretted it instantly. She had never snapped at him like that. She had always been complacent, seeing as the guilt and self-hate that DiZ had planted in her had spread so well. She saw herself as he did: a waste of space, a Nobody, an aberration.

She still did, but something had changed. Perhaps it was the fact that someone had finally treated her with genuine kindness. Not the kind that was directed at her because of her Somebody, or because it benefitted them in some way. No, Ventus treated her with kindness because he felt like she deserved it.

It was lie she was glad to believe.

DiZ's eye widened. "Very well," he replied, as calm as a thunderstorm. "Just make haste. Every second he is out of commission, the world's time shortens. You know that this is in your hands." He left the room without a sound. Much like Riku, like people who carry themselves for greater purposes.

She did not carry herself without sound. She would always leave a trace: be it the flip of her notebook of the light _swish_ of her hands against the castle walls. She did not know how to be lifeless, even though she was, in a sense, inexistent.

She sighed against her hand, desperate to feel Ventus' warmth near her again. Her gaze lingered on her sketchpad, where she had drawn what had come to mind as soon as she had seen him: an image, of a boy sleeping on a white throne. The boy was Ventus; that, she knew. But she wanted to ask him about it. Was this a memory?

"Hey."

She closed her sketchbook with a _snap_. Riku was above her, dangerously close to her ear. When she felt her cheeks heat up, she repeated her mantra; the painful truth: _You cannot feel. You cannot feel. You cannot feel._ It filled her with dread, but also strength. She would not fall prey to his charms. She would indulge in what she could actually have.

Blond hair, blue eyes. Not this silver and green reality, but a golden and indigo dream. Riku could not be hers, he was Sora's, he was Kairi's. Just like Sora was theirs. But Ventus… Ventus was alone.

"Riku," she acknowledged. "You scared me."

If it had been DiZ, he might have scoffed and said, _Your façade is as impressive as always_. But Riku just looked sheepish. "Sorry," he said. "But I've been thinking. Would you like to accompany me?"

She dropped her notebook. The shock felt so real that she had to bite back a surprised noise. These walls were all she knew. Was it even possible for her to leave? Did she even deserve to?

The boy put up his hands. "Hear me out. I need to do some recon, but I don't want to go alone. DiZ isn't going to be around for at _least_ an hour. And you could use the fresh air, after all this work."

She could barely believe it. She felt something gathering behind her eyelids. She blinked the feelings away. "Riku." The way she said his name made him grin. It was full of sentiment, full of gratefulness. Did he have to be so kind? How could he _be_ like that?

The relentless kindness was too much like the one Sora had shown her, under her spell. But Riku was not under a spell. And that's what hurt the most. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve _him_. She didn't deserve anything at all!

"I can't." She said. "I need to get Sora back."

She could feel it. The darkness that coiled up inside him, upset at her. "But, it would only be for a while."

"I cannot leave. I don't have the right."

"Yes, you do. Every person has—"

She snapped. Naminé needed to push him away. Whatever it took. "You're right. Every _person_ has the right. But I'm not a person, I'm a witch. Don't make this harder than it has to be, _please_." She put so much feeling in that last plead; she could not take it anymore. She couldn't handle what she was _feeling_.

She watched as he stood back, and an unidentifiable look shadowed his features. "I knew you would say that. I just hoped you wouldn't."

And he left.

* * *

She shouldn't have gone to see him. After what she had done, she didn't deserve the comfort. But she did anyway.

Ventus looked worried when he saw her. "Are you alright? You just left, and I was worried."

"I'm sorry." She managed. She felt so broken and, for the first time since she had met him, Ventus could not make her feel better. She had hoped, but hoping did not help her anymore. "I'm here now. How are you?"

"I'm fine, but you don't look okay," he was looking at her face, inspecting every nook and cranny, like an artist would look over a work of art. She stilled. "You look sad."

 _If only you knew_ , she thought. "I'm not sad. I'm just… Things have been hard." She didn't want to worry him, but she had to be honest. She couldn't lie to everyone. "You were saying… Something about your friends? Before I left?" Yes, it was best to change the subject.

She had already learned a few things about him. He could use a Keyblade—he had summoned it for her, and had even let her _hold_ it—and was friends with two more wielders: Terra and Aqua, who were also his dearest friends. When he spoke of them, his eyes lit up and the smile could not leave his face. She enjoyed seeing him like that.

"Terra was—is—crazy strong. He's tall and brave and kind of reckless, but, he was family. Aqua's so smart and skilled it's like magic. She's like a figure skater when she uses her Keyblade."

She pretended not to hear how he had forced everything into present tense. That was his hope: that his friends were still around, and that he was only alone for now. But she had tried to investigate: asking DiZ and Riku was all she could do. And they knew nothing. So, by extension, she knew nothing. She wanted to help him, but she didn't know how.

"They sound like wonderful people," she said, and she meant it. Any person who he considered important would be it. She could only look at the light in his eyes, as if he had never known darkness. "Hopefully, you'll see them soon."

There it was again. The hope. The seed that would spread and poison if not treated carefully. Ventus had spent ten _years_ inside Sora; if his friends were still around, then they would have come after him by now. But here he was, with her. Destined to be forgotten.

"You're giving me the _look_ again."

"Sorry," she apologized. Ventus called the _look_ what she did when she felt pity for him. As if she was in any place to feel pity for him.

"You know, you remind me of someone." She stiffened. Of course. This was why he cared about her. Another case of misdirected memories. Her chest constricted and threatened to implode. "She was kind and pretty, too. You two don't look alike, though. You're a totally different kind of pretty."

"What was her name?" She managed, the blood rushing to her face. A compliment. A genuine compliment. This boy was so charming. A prince.

"Aurora," he replied. "She was a princess I met once, before I got here. I wonder if she's alright."

 _Aurora_. Yes, yes! She knew who she was: Sora's memory was proof enough. "Yes, she is alright. She's alive and well."

"She is? You know her?" She could see the hope shining in his eyes again, and she didn't want to put it out.

"No, but Sora does. He saved her, a while back. I'm not sure where she is now, though. But, as of a couple of months ago, she was okay."

He sighed. "That's good. That's really good." He smiled so widely that, even if it was to himself, Naminé felt something flourish in her chest. "Naminé, you have just made my time here worth it. I can't thank you enough."

She smiled back. "I'm just a witch, but I do what I can."

Immediately, her hands rose to her mouth. Stupid, stupid! She had just ruined everything. With a single word, she had torn this little piece of heaven apart.

"You're a what?"

* * *

 **A/N: The more I write about these two, the more I feel like this could pass the small amount of chapters I had planned. Sighs.**


	3. Frenzy

Sora's Heart had gone silent, she felt like she was holding her breath. Ventus's face lit up in distrust, and took a step a back. When she reached for his hand, he snatched it away.

"Are you working with him?" He asked. This boy was a stranger. "With Xehanort?"

"Who's Xehanort?" She was babbling, grasping for words. She didn't want to lose him. Not like this. "I'm sorry—I said that and I didn't _think_ —"

"You let it slip. Get real! You were hiding it from me. Maleficent was evidence enough to never trust a witch. Why… Why do people keep _lying_ to me? Master Eraqus, Aqua, Terra," he tore his gaze away from hers, tearing the ghost of her non-existent heart with it. "I expected it from them. I hated it—but as much as I hate to say it—they had their reasons. But _you_?"

There was so much disgust in that 'you', so much resentment and hate and _apathy_ , that she couldn't take it. She had been so happy a moment ago, but now she was dying inside. She was _dying_.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Nobody ever cares about a Nobody witch like me! Nobody has ever looked at me—knowing what I am, what I've _done_ —and thought of me as a normal person. I just wanted to be… I wanted to be somebody! _A_ Somebody! Please, just—"

For a moment, he softened.

She could barely see him now, her vision was blurring, her chest was tight, and noticed how his hands had reached her face and felt them wipe tears away. She wanted to push him away. _They're not real. They're just another method of making you stay with me_.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not real," she said. Naminé explained her existence—the coincidence, the anomaly—slowly, but Ventus did not stop looking at her, his gaze ever constant. When she told him about her powers, about what had gone about in Castle Oblivion, the _monster_ that she was, his brow creased, but never once did he interrupt her. A last kindness, one she did not deserve.

She breathed in, and out. His eyes were so bright, and so beautiful, but now they would never be hers again. He would never dazzle her with that blissful smile, or make her blush with his compliments. After all, who compliments a criminal who was atoning for their mistakes?

"You're not a monster."

"How can you say that? After what I did, Sora forgot what mattered. Sora thought he was _happy_." She pulled his hands away. "How can you pretend that what I did didn't mess everything up? I could be using my powers on you right now."

"When we're alone, we are weak. That man—Marluxia—he used that. You can't blame yourself for doing what you did. Not when you're trying your best to fix it." She blinked, but he carried on. "Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials, Naminé."

"Ventus, I don't _have_ a heart."

"If you don't have a heart, then explain this."

And he kissed her.

There was no electricity, no fire, no thunder. There was only the wind, and she felt it blowing from all directions. She was a balloon, and she was flying, the sky was bright and blue and the clouds were white and soft. The sun was shining on her skin, warming her up, but the wind held her steady, and did not let her go. She tried to grab him, but he kept slipping through her fingers, through every stolen breath she managed, through every hungry look she managed to find in those endless eyes.

She let herself be carried away.

* * *

"There is someone inside Sora's Heart."

DiZ looked up from his papers. She had gathered the courage to stare him down, blue on gold. After so long of being wary of him, of almost hating him, _she_ had come to _him._ Not reliable Riku, not enigmatic Axel. No, cruel, brilliant DiZ.

To her surprise, he blinked. "Another Nobody?"

"No, a Heart. With no body," She replied. "He has been inside Sora for years. But his body," Naminé showed him her sketch. "Is somewhere in Castle Oblivion. I need to go back."

She needed to find it for him. She had not felt a purpose so deeply, not even when she was fixing Sora. Ventus was a promise of a normal life. Of a friend she had earned from scratch. Of being a good person.

"Castle Oblivion is not yours anymore, child," he said. He picked up the notebook, and Naminé noticed, with her artist's eye, how he looked surprised. The flicker was gone in an instant, but Naminé saw it. "This is him? The boy?"

"Yes. His name is—"

" _Don't_." His voice was as cold as a fledgling Heartless. She stiffened. She felt as if she should be used to him treating her like a show dog already. "This new information is, just that, _new_. And it has added another factor into the fray."

"What do you mean?" As if she hadn't fucked up everything enough. Perhaps she could become a part of the despicable Organization XIII. She certainly has the tact for it.

"It explains why Sora's Nobody looks like _this_." He slid her sketchpad back, but on top of it, was a photograph. A boy with blond hair and indigo hair. A flat, lifeless expression graced his features, and Naminé bit back a gasp.

"Naminé, that is Roxas. Does he look like the boy in Sora's Heart?"

"Identical," she breathed. "A carbon copy."

"Not another word." DiZ stood as he spoke. He got close to her, and Naminé didn't feel that hatred towards her anymore. Only curiosity, only interest in seeing how she ticked. "This boy has affected Sora's Nobody, somehow. And we do not know what saving him—giving him back his body—will do to Sora. And when Sora comes back—"

"I won't be around anymore." So, she could do nothing. Nothing for Ventus, who had kissed her and set her free. He was trapped, and Naminé had to throw away the key.

For a moment, DiZ looked at her. And he saw the one thing he had never him give her: pity. She thought of _that_ girl, the one who had come to her a while ago. Perhaps that would be the last time she saw her. Or anyone did. "Now you know how powerless knowledge can make you."

* * *

 _Ventus, that had been bad. Ventus, you shouldn't have done that. Ventus, you are—by far—the most insane student I've ever had._

The voices spoke in his head in a loop, as he banged his head against the glass floor. Had he kissed Naminé on impulse? Yes. Had he been a bit too willing? Sure. Had he regretted it? No, absolutely not.

Naminé was a breath of fresh air, a kind angel sent down just for him. She had been so afraid—he could tell as she told him about her, about her coincidental existence—that she had been shaking, but her eyes did not lie, not once. They had never lied to her, only concealed. But when she told him her story, she let her true eyes shine through. Blue, rimmed with gray and stars and— _Oh, god._

And this ridiculousness about her _lacking_ a heart was insane. How could a girl who seemed so bright and alive and real believe she did not have one? She insisted it was a ruse, one she was born with, but wasn't that what a heart was? To be born with a fake heart, is it any different than having a real one?

Did she kiss him back?

He stopped tearing at himself for a moment and grinned, the endless void in Sora's heart wincing under his bright smile.

 _Yes_.

Naminé had been brutally honest: after his confrontation, she couldn't bear to leave him in the dark anymore. Everything she knew, she had told. Even the kiss had been a bit of a tell, a girl who had been desperate for company giving into a boy who had fallen for an angel. But, perhaps, maybe her loneliness was only a lapse, one he had come to end. Maybe that's what these ten years had been for.

Still.

He had been in Sora's Heart for ten years.

Of course, he had seen Sora grow. But for some reason, his mind didn't correlate that information into the passing of years. It felt like a movie, and time wasn't very clear anymore.

Did that mean that Terra and Aqua were older now? Had his body grown old and withered away without a heart? If so, then maybe he should just stay inside Sora. Any trace of his home was gone now. Naminé hadn't found anything about a world called Land of Departure.

No, but she had insisted that her database was small and limited. That he should try to venture for himself. Aurora was still around, with her heart intact. Maleficent had endured this long as well. Who was to say that his friends were not made of the same steel?

He got blasted out of his thoughts when Naminé landed on the glass platform with the grace of a princess. He rose to meet her, his hands almost going to her waist or to her face, to place her down, to hold her. _Play it cool! Chill out!_

"I'm sorry, Ven."

He got a flash of Aqua saying those very words to him, and he felt tears gather. He blinked them away. "What for?"

"I can't get you out. I have an idea of where your body is, but with you being such an important part of Sora," she said as she handed him a photograph. It was him. Except— "DiZ doesn't want to risk it."

"And neither do you," Ven said. It wasn't a bitter statement, but a fact. Naminé had been working on Sora for so long, and to imagine losing her work, it must be killing her. "This is his… _Nowhere_? And he looks like me?"

"No _body_ ," she replied with a laugh. Sora was lucky to have the affection of such a pretty girl. It was obvious Naminé felt something for the boy; something like adoration, a fixation to a far-off dream, one that she felt would never be hers. "And yes, though, we don't know why. On top of that, we only have a couple of days left together."

That tore threw him like a knife. "What? Why? Naminé, you don't have to leave me—"

"It's not you I'm leaving, it's Sora. I can't see him anymore after I'm done. And not seeing him means not seeing you."

"How much time is left?" _How much time until I'm alone again?_

Naminé was smiling, but it was so sad that he felt his heart break. This girl, so beautiful and radiant, would leave him too. "Even though I've been slacking so much, I'm done. The memories he has are complete, I'm just missing two pieces."

"The Nobody…?"

She nodded. "The Nobody and his Puppet."


	4. Apart

She didn't visit him anymore.

She walked through the mansion halls alone, only coming out if she needed to. And someone needing her was a spectacle by itself. She hung her drawings on the walls, only to rip them off the next day. She hated them. They were a reminder of what she would never have. Of what she wouldn't allow herself to have.

Splitting Roxas, Xion, and Axel apart had broken her. The girl, so quiet and beautiful like a shooting star—one blink and she's gone—had not doubted her once. She did not question her, not once. Naminé was _stealing her life away_ and the puppet only asked her to 'take care of her boys'. As if she had a right to even look at them after what she had done.

Even now, she still remembers. A witch is immune to spells, except to those that brought her forth, and those that could destroy her. Xion had been wiped off the face of the earth, and only she kept those beautiful, ocean-deep eyes in her memory. Only her.

Did she only exist to take away precious things? Was that all?

Naminé could see it. Those who had met Xion still _felt_ her, the memory extraction hadn't been foolproof. Just like Sora in Castle Oblivion, the Heart fails to forget. Even Axel and Roxas—heartless by design—had not lost their love, their sorrow. Riku had been affected, too: he visited the Destiny Islands now a lot more frequently now, bringing along seashells but not knowing who they're for. She threw them away out of kindness, to not hear his voice deepen with confusion and despair. He had been through enough, and he doesn't let her see his face anymore. Only now did she miss it.

"Naminé."

Someone was at the door for her. DiZ, for one, still looked the same. His face was neutral, perhaps even curious. Behind him, Riku was silent. But she could feel his gaze on her, even though the darkness inside his hood seemed endless. "There has been some trouble in town. Stay here, we will be right back. Protect Sora."

He turned away from her and the white-schemed room. Funny how, in a futile effort to finally escape Castle Oblivion, she had actually been excited to leave it. The rooms she now spent most of her time were carbon copies of the ones she had seen her entire life. Ha.

She waited for an eternity as she felt them leave. They opened a Corridor of Darkness, and DiZ stepped in without hesitation, but she could've sworn Riku waited a fraction of second before following. As if he didn't want to go. Perhaps he wanted to talk with her, finally. Wouldn't that be nice?

Naminé shut her sketchbook and dashed to the basement. She needed to see Roxas. She needed to see the face of the boy who had charmed her so, even if it was a different person entirely. A small, self-inflicted blessing, but one nonetheless.

The digital rendering of Twilight Town looked _real_ , in her opinion. She didn't have much to base it on, but if she had to imagine it, the town would look how it did there. It was a brilliant plan, a cage full of toys for a prize rat.

And what a prize had he been. Sora's Nobody, oblivious to all that he has lost and will continue to lose. A bit on the quiet side, gloomier than she had expected. The occasional smile was a welcomed surprise, but nothing compared to _his_ smile. No, Ventus's smile would have—

A hand flew to her chest. A dagger of pain had found her, twisting and clenching, making her gasp. How long had it been since she had seen him? How long since he had made her feel things that she thought impossible?

How long since she had abandoned him out of fear of saying goodbye?

Naminé looked beyond, behind Roxas and behind the clock tower, and farther and even farther. The sunset was dazzling, the reds and the hints of twilight called to her artist's soul. But she didn't want them. Not the twilight, not the reds, not the sun nor the clouds.

Roxas was not Ventus.

Roxas could never be Ventus.

Not caring if anyone saw her, she opened a Corridor of Darkness and showed herself the way out. She, like Sora, would be brave. She would be strong and selfless, and she would give what she couldn't give Roxas, or Xion, or Axel. She would give him closure.

* * *

Even before her feet found the ground, his hands had found her waist, twirling her around like the princess she clearly wasn't. Even so, she dropped what she was carrying and wrapped her hands around his neck. Even as she stood close to Roxas, he could never imitate Ven's warmth. It was the most genuine thing she had felt. Maybe because this was what it was like, getting to know a stranger enough. Maybe this was what it was like to make a real friend. Someone who didn't know her once, and in a blink of eye, knew so many things that it might've been creepy in any other circumstance. It didn't help that he was cute, too.

"You came back." His voice held tones of disbelief. "I thought that last time—I thought it was the last time I'd ever see you. That's why I—Um, that's why I kissed—"

"You kissed me _before_ I told you about how I was leaving Sora."

"I distinctly remember it being after. Dramatic effect and all."

"Get real! I think I would remember my first kiss!" He made her bubbly, like she could break out of the shy prison she had made for herself and _live_. A real life, one that would last until she was old and he was old, like Sora and Kairi will live until their very last days. She could have that too.

Her words made him blush. " _I_ was your first kiss? Talk about an ego booster. You'd think that more people would want to kiss a pretty girl."

"I don't see that many guys."

"Lucky for me," he grinned as they sat by the edge of the green platform, their feet dangling. Naminé lost herself in the great darkness that seemed to live there, the vast, infinite unknown. How many more wonderful people did Sora have in his heart? Would Roxas join Ventus here?

"I'm glad that you'll have company now," she said. "When we get Roxas to join Sora, you'll have a friend. I mean, I hope you'll get along. He's a bit intense, and you'll feel like you're seeing double, but I'm just glad you won't be—"

She stopped herself. Ventus's hand had reached up to touch her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. She realized he was wiping away her tears. Naminé let out a shaky breath. She always found herself in this scenario: either she pushed them away or they tore themselves away from her. Riku, Sora, even _Marluxia_ , who used her like a goddamn _toy_ , was gone, and she had no use anymore. After Sora was complete, Riku won't have to see her anymore. But letting him go was different. Every day she passed at his side was one she cherished, one that she wouldn't be able to forget even if her own magic did work on her. Her chest convulsed and constricted, and she thought she might be dying.

"I don't—I don't want to say g-goodbye," she managed. "You're my friend, Ventus. I'm going to lose you, and then I'm not going to exist anymore, and I'm terrified." After her job was finished, she'd have to go back to Kairi. Before, she had just wanted to get it over with, but now, she had something she didn't want to lose.

"Come on, don't cry. My friends, they have all suffered. Some more than others," Ven said to her, his forehead touching hers and his hands never leaving her face. "You're strong, full of light. My friend would have been so smitten with you. He would have loved to teach you how to fight, how to control that so-called darkness."

She nodded. His words didn't make any sense, but she listened.

"Terra had the same problem you did. He had darkness in his heart, but he wasn't evil, not by a long shot. He was manipulated, and I realize that now. What you did, what they _made_ you do, it doesn't define you. I was supposed to be a weapon, Naminé. I didn't want to be that. What do you want?"

What do you want?

She laughed, her hands reaching up to touch his. "I just want to spend time with you. All the time I can."

He kissed her on the cheek, and enveloped her in a hug and felt like a warm blanket. Sora's Heart grew so much brighter. "Then that's what we'll do."

* * *

 **A/N: I'd give it one more chapter. Thank you for the continuous support in this little adventure!**


	5. Love

She thought of the notebook, keeping its image intact in her memory. It was now blank, clean of all the things Jiminy Cricket had recorded in Castle Oblivion, clean of anything involving the Organization. There had only been one sentence, two words. Those words held her in that moment, in the last moment, in the moment she stopped being herself and became who she truly was. Kairi.

It didn't feel like she had become whole.

No, it felt as if she had waltzed into a stranger's home, and even though Kairi's Dive to the Heart was immensely warm and inviting, she felt alone, but strangely happy. She laid down against the image of Kairi, beautiful and bright. This was her fate from the beginning, she reminded herself. This was her place, the only place where she had a spot to fill. In this loneliness, she had finally found her purpose. To exist inside Kairi, or not exist at all.

Was it really any better?

 _Yes_ , she told herself, because by joining Kairi, she had given back what she had taken from Sora. She had given him the girl of his Heart, his princess. That should've been comfort enough. It might've been enough for Sora, or maybe even Riku, but the smile that played on her lips was because of something else.

"Naminé."

She turned to her side. Standing next to each other, it would've been hard to tell the difference, other than by their clothes. But Naminé had become a master at telling them apart, she was able to immediately tell who's who just by looking at their eyes.

"Hey there," she said cheekily, not moving from her side.

"Kinda roomy in here," Roxas said, looking around. "You should move in with us. It must suck to be here alone. I mean, Kairi and Sora basically share a heart."

Ventus made a gagging sound. "Tell me about it."

"Right, as if you have any right to say that, mister 'Let's go check on Naminé because I'm worried and I miss her so much'."

Ven, red-faced, looked at the girl. "Tell me why you thought it was going to be a good idea for us to live in the same person."

She laughed. It was great seeing them again. She knew they'd see each other, as much as Kairi knew that Sora and Riku would find a way back to her from the Realm of Darkness. There had not been a drop of doubt in her mind that they'd soon find a way to be all together again.

Which reminded her…

"Ventus, Roxas," _Xion_ , she added mentally. As if happy to have her presence acknowledged, Kairi's Heart grew brighter, if only by a little. The light that followed Roxas around had not slipped past her, like a guardian angel keeping him safe. He didn't remember, but he didn't need to. Soon, everything would be set right.

She had done it, and it had been ambitious, perhaps even pointless, but she knew that it would work. She was going to save everyone. All she needed was Sora's help.

"I've done something. I'm going to give us a chance."

They were silent. Ven, knowing her and trusting her almost completely, asked, "What did you do?"

It had become so clear to her, once she ventured, one last time, into Sora's memories. The older ones, the ones she had no business touching, had held the clues all along. Who would have thought that Sora would have held the key? Ventus had described his friends, but the image had been given to her by Sora. The strong, golden-skinned man who had spoken with Riku, the beautiful, fierce blue-haired woman that had smiled at them so long ago. Indeed, Ventus had described them very well, and Sora had known them. Sora created a _chain_.

One she was going to use to save them.

She thought of the notebook again. Jiminy had written to thank her, but she had added more. The notebook was her biggest bet—her last play in the game—to give those who had fallen a chance. All she needed was for someone to search for the truth.

She laughed. "We're not going to stay here. We're going to go back."

The twins shared a look. "Naminé, I don't think we can do that." Roxas spoke gently, as if to protect her. As if to snap her from a dream, but not enough to shatter her. But he didn't know what she knew. What she had done.

"We can," she looked at Ven. The hope in his eyes—the one that shone for his friends, for his own existence—would never go out. She swore it. "We will."

"What did you do?" Ven asked again, and her chest, her _heart_ , swelled up with nothing but love. The purest love, the strongest. Love for someone who had accepted her, and not used her, and not needed her. They were friends because they had chosen to be friends. Nothing could be more important.

"I left something behind. Something that can be traced," she smiled. "It can be traced to you, to me, to Terra and Aqua. To those whose been forgotten, to all those who can be found once more."

The boys looked shaken. They didn't understand. But she only smiled _. It was all thanks to you, Ven_. She thought. _If I hadn't found you, or if you hadn't found me, this would've never been possible. The rest, is up to Sora._

And she spoke. Her words would be heard in the darkest of hearts, in the corners of castles of oblivion, in the depths of the Realm of Darkness. Even if you couldn't remember their name, they would hear it.

She reached out for Ventus's hand. She did have a heart, she thought once more, because it drove her, with all the power it could give, to save him. Out of love, she would give him a chance. He gripped it, and his eyes glinted like the moon, a million stars, a universe before her.

"Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it."

Her words left her lips, and the wind picked them up, spreading them across the worlds, into every heart, and she thought, without a doubt, that Sora would truly be able to save them all.


End file.
